Digital Bill of Rights

Technological innovation has unleashed a transformation as significant as the Industrial Revolution. While this information revolution has empowered consumers, it has generated new questions and concerns regarding privacy, free speech, limits on the government’s power to tax, and the regulation of disruptive technologies. For this reason, the FreedomWorks Digital Bill of Rights seeks to ensure that the protections afforded to all Americans by the U.S. Constitution carry forward to the cyberworld.

Hold Congress Accountable

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After sometimes-dramatic and often-tense several weeks, the USA Freedom Act finally passed the Senate. The act’s passage brings the government’s telephone data surveillance program under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act back from its brief retirement, but with reforms that stop its worst abuses. Although the USA Freedom Act was certainly not the level of reform that many had hoped for, it passage nevertheless sent a clear signal that the days of Congress simply rubber-stamping endless surveillance programs are over.

On June 2nd, the House of Representatives Committee on oversight and Government Reform began a hearing on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The hearing spanned two days and was aided by three panels of witnesses. In effort to ensure transparency, the congressmen assessed how government agencies currently view FOIA and deal with requests for information. My takeaway? FOIA is a joke and government agencies are the worst.

As one of our over 6.9 million FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to vote NO on the McConnell amendment #1452, which would remove a crucial transparency section from the USA Freedom Act.

This month the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing on the Higher Education Act, which was originally passed in 1965. The primary topic for the duration of the two hour hearing was the collection and dissemination of data from colleges and universities.

The Inspector General of the Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed in a report released on Thursday that spying powers claimed under Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act has "not identified any major case developments" through the controversial statue. The report covers a three-year period between 2007 through 2009 and notes that the nation's top domestic law enforcement agency tripled its use of Section 215 requests beginning in 2004.

On Sunday, the Senate will vote on reauthorizing Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the controversial section that allows the bulk collection of telephone metadata. Actually, it doesn’t allow it, according to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, but everyone is still acting like it does and framing the debate accordingly.

UPDATE: Senator Paul is standing firm on his promise to hold out for better surveillance reforms. Since Senator McConnell has thus far shown no indication that he will allow the amendment votes that Rand has asked for, there is a good chance that Section 215 of the Patriot Act will be allowed to expire Sunday night.